Avery Holmes
Zayn could tell that something was wrong. I could tell by the way I could feel his eyes on me, and then when I looked in his direction he diverted them away. Playing Monopoly was only to get me away from him, because he had obviously heard us yelling.
"We're back!" Harry hollered, stepping into the living room with Aimee on his shoulders.
"I'm a good swimmer." Aimee said seriously. "I wanna show daddy how good I am."
"Uh, yeah, maybe later baby." I smiled. "But I think it's nap time right now." It was already three, she was supposed to be in bed at around two.
"But I don't wanna!" Aimee whined.
"Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to." I chuckled, although I really wasn't paying attention to anything that was going on, I was just beyond upset. "C'mon, let's get you out of your swimsuit."
Aimee reached for me and I picked her up, even though she was getting my shirt wet. One thing that I learned was that so many things change when you become a mother- after getting spit up on time after time, you really don't care if you get something on your shirt.
"Where daddy?" Aimee asked as we walked in to the bedroom. I bit my lip and glanced at the bathroom door, he was in there getting a shower.
"Don't worry about him, Aims. You wanna try wearing panties to bed?" I asked, holding up her orange underwear that said Sunday. She nodded and I began to change her so that she was all ready for bed.
"Mommy," Aimee said as she got comfy in bed with Timmy the Turtle under her arm. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong Aimee, why do you say that?" I chuckled.
"Because," She sighed, brushing loose strands of hair out of her face. "Something is wrong."
"Don't worry about it." I smiled, kissing her forehead. "Just go to sleep and everything will be okay when you wake up." I promised her.
"I love you to the moon." She said, kissing me nightly on the nose.
"I love you to the moon and back."
I knew that after being active and having swam all afternoon, she would be out quick. I decided that, since I had already gone through so much today, I deserved a nap as well. All I wanted was for Niall to get done in the bathroom and cuddle with me, but I knew I shouldn't be getting my hopes up.
I crawled into bed, my chin already bobbing. I wanted to be able to stand up against Marcus, I wanted to be able to tell him to back off and give me space, but I was scared. I was too scared to speak up for myself, which is why Jake always pushed me around for years. Because I was too afraid.
I felt like a coward. Maybe, if I would have done something I could have prevented things from going bad today. But, when Jake held me like that, he had my arms pinned down to my sides, I couldn't just push him away. It all must've looked so bad to Niall.
After waiting for about ten minutes, when Aimee was surely asleep, I lost it. I cried and cried and cried, wishing that Marcus would just go away. I normally wouldn't' have let things like this bother me so much, but for some strange reason he reminded me so much like Jake.
The tears shamelessly rolled down my stained cheeks, and my chin wobbled furiously. I hardly ever cried anymore- after all of these years I'd been through so much and crying seemed like such a waste. But now, all I could think of was how much I wanted Niall to hold me.
I froze when I heard someone leave the bathroom, closing my eyes and pretending I was asleep as Niall walked over to the dresser and grabbed some clothes. I closed my eyes as he got dressed, not wanting to see anything.
"I love you, Aimee," I heard him whisper, and I dared to open my one eye. He stood over her, kissing her in the same spot on her forehead that I did. Aimee sighed in her sleep.
Before Niall turned around, I closed my eyes. I felt him getting closer and wondered if he was going to lie down for a while, hoping that he'd lie down with me. I wanted his arms around me so, so bad.
I heard the bed creak under his weight and almost smiled when he joined me in bed. His body was close to mine, but not touching just yet.
Suddenly, with one swift move, I felt arms wrap around me and lips on my neck. I let a few last tears fall, and then felt him pull away.
"Ave?" He whispered.
"I'm s-sorry." I hiccuped. I felt him pull me in and I shook my head. "No, no I screwed up." I pushed him away.
"Avery." He said firmly. "Listen, I thought about it, and I overreacted. I saw how he held ya, ya were basically trapped. And the Jake thing, that should be your choice."
I kept my eyes closed, surprised at how quickly he was willing to let this go.
"Please open your eyes," He left kisses down my neck. "I wanna see those pretty brown eyes." I blushed deeply and opened my eyes, giving him a small smile. He grinned and kissed me full on the lips before pulling me back in his arms.
"Are you still mad?" I asked, frowning a bit. He shook his head and leaned back on his pillow, closing his eyes.
"It's a sensitive subject for me." He admitted. "My last girlfriend, Tiffany, cheated on me when I was away from home for five months."
"I'm sorry," I whispered, feeling rather comfortable in his arms. "But you should know that I'd never do anything like that."
"I know ya wouldn't." He said. "I trust ya, Avery." I smiled.
"I trust you, too." I said, my eyes becoming droopy.
"Oh, by the way, Sam told me they have another lead on the case. Said that they're in California, but they're luring them away from here. Sam doesn't like the idea of them being close, so we're going to Motel 6 in two days." I could practically feel him grinning.
"I miss Shirley, and that vending machine." I giggled. "Once we get there, we're staying there for a while. Promise me?"
"I promise ya." He whispered. I could feel his hot breath, we were as close as possible. I could hear Aimee lightly snoring beside us in her bed and it made me smile. "I couldn't stand being mad at ya."
"Me neither. We lasted, what, a total of five hours?" I laughed. "How dumb are we?"
"We?" Niall teased, and I pushed his chest. "Just kiddin'."
"Go to sleep, doofus."
When I woke up, the warmth of Niall's body was gone and I was alone. I groggily rubbed my eyes and saw that Aimee wasn't in bed, either, and the sun was already down. Had I really overslept that much?
Despite my body screaming at me to stay in bed, I threw my feet over the edge and got up. Looking at myself in the mirror, I was surprised that I actually looked decent. I walked out into the living room, where there was practically nobody.
"Hello?" I called out, frowning.
"In here!" A voice called from the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen and as soon as I did I wished that I hadn't. Marcus stood against a counter top, his phone in his hands. Once he saw me, he smirked.
"No," I laughed bitterly, finding courage inside me that I didn't think I possessed. "No, get that dirty little smirk off your face." His eyebrows shot up, I can tell that I surprised him.
"And why should I do that?" He taunted.
"Because I don't think you know your place." I had no idea what words were spewing out of my mouth. "You're the bodyguard- meaning that you're only here to protect us. I'm not sure if you know exactly what that means-"
"I do." He said, crossing his arms and watching me, as if he found this amusing.
"Right, that means you keep your hands off of me and stay away from my family. We already have enough going on, and we sure don't need anything to screw things up. I appreciate your willingness to help, but keep your comments to yourself and your hands to yourself before I do something you'll make me regret." I spat.
He laughed, as if I was some sort of comedic act. "Like what?"
I narrowed my eyes at him and brought my foot to his shin, making him double over in pain. His face was scrunched up as if he had just tasted something awful. I bent down to his level and smirked.
"Like that."
When I found everyone else up on the rooftop, I decided not to say anything about what happened downstairs. After that little episode, Marcus had left the entire suite angry, and I assumed he was going to go out somewhere. Instead of telling, I just smiled at everyone as they greeted me, giving hugs to various people.
"Burger or hot dog?" Sam asked, standing over a grill.
"Burger, please." I smiled politely. Aimee ran up to me.
"You're awake!" She exclaimed. "I can swim, momma!" I raised an eyebrow and noticed that she was in her bathing suit- without her floaties, and immediately was alarmed.
"Wha-"
"I held her the entire time until she kept herself afloat." Harry said, standing in front of me. "And she only swims in the shallow end. But don't be mad, she's so proud of herself." I smiled at him, and then turned back to Aimee.
"Wanna see?" Aimee asked, beaming. I nodded and followed both her and Harry. They both got in the shallow end and I sat on the edge, watching them. It scared me that my daughter was in the pool without floaties and my aid, but I'd address that issue later.
"Look!" Aimee shouted, doing the doggie paddle around Harry. He laughed as she swam, and then held her when it seemed that she was getting tired. I clapped and helped her climb up the ladder. "Did I swim good?"
"You swam amazing, baby girl." I said, hugging her and kissing her, getting my shirt wet for the second time that day. I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw my mom, who was smiling.
"Don't be mad at Harry, I supervised." She assured me. I nodded and looked over at my dad, who was talking to Zayn, a burger in his shaking hand. I could tell that he was overjoyed to be in his presence, which was hilarious to me.
"Avery!" Another voice called, and I saw that Darcy had two plates in her hands. I caught up to her and she handed me my plate and an ice cold can of Coke. "I was hoping you'd wake up soon. Sam wanted us to let loose a bit."
"Well, this is quite the party." I laughed.
"And later tonight, we're renting a movie." She added, dipping a fry into some ketchup. I smiled and nodded, looking around. Everyone seemed to be here, everyone except Niall and Marcus. I could understand why Marcus wasn't here, but where was Niall?
I chewed on my burger and then got Aimee situated with her hot dog and fries, sitting down beside her and feeding her. Even though she could feed herself properly, she was pretending to be a baby, something that happened frequently. Every day, it seemed to be something different, either a: baby, dog, cat, or animal.
"Can we live here?" Aimee asked. Liam, who was beside me, laughed.
"I think we're going to go soon, baby. Back home. How does that sound?" I asked. She pouted.
"We'll come back here soon," Liam butted in. "And we'll stay here and go swimming. Sounds like fun, yeah?" Aimee nodded, stuffing as many fries in her mouth as she possibly could.
"I'm done." Aimee said, pushing her plate away from her. There was still some food on her plate, but she had done a pretty good job. I nodded and threw her plate in the trash can along with mine, still wondering where Niall was.
"Hey, Ave, I think your boyfriend's inside. Go grab him!" Louis called. I nodded and turned to Aimee, but then Liam spoke up once more.
"I'll watch her." He volunteered.
"Just make sure she doesn't go in the pool." I reminded him, walking off. I hurried down the stairs and down the freezing hallway, and then swung the door open to our hotel suite. It was dark inside, and I was a bit afraid that Marcus might pop out of nowhere and yell at me, and so I flicked on the lights.
"Niall?" I hollered, but didn't receive any response. I figured that I was alone in the suite, since Marcus had gone off somewhere and Niall was currently missing.
I walked into the bedroom and immediately saw the mess that it was- earlier I hadn't noticed that it was this bad. It was mainly Aimee's things, like clothing and toys. I sighed and started to clean them up, my back to the door.
Suddenly, I heard the door squeak and smiled as I heard someone coming closer to me. Maybe Niall and I could kiss a little bit before we got back onto the rooftop, because I know I surely wouldn't' mind that.
I felt arms wrap around my waist the way that Niall always does, and I giggled, a blush rising on my cheeks and I melted into his chest, still not turning around, facing the window and the sun that was dipping below the horizon.
His lips traveled to my cheek and he kissed me sweetly, his arms still on my waist. I was so happy that we had made up, because I absolutely hated when people were mad at me. When Niall was at me, it was ten times worse than anyone else being mad.
Suddenly, I heard someone else come in the room.
"Hey, Ave- what the..." I turned around, looking up at the person who held me, and gasped. The person that I thought was Niall wasn't Niall, and the person that I let kiss me was actually Marcus. I wanted to scream, but I made no sound as I stood there, beyond angry.
Suddenly, I looked over at the doorway, where Niall stood- tears forming in his eyes, shoulders slumped with disappointment.
"You!" I shouted at Marcus, who wore the same smirk on his face that he always did. I was just starting to walk towards Niall when he shook his head, running off. I spun back around at Marcus, a crazed and angry look on my face.
"You did this on purpose!" I shouted. "What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing's wrong with me." He said, as if this was all nothing. "But uh, if I were you, I'd go after your boyfriend. He looks a bit upset." He teased.
At this point, I was so furious that I had no words. Angry tears ran down my cheeks, and I pushed Marcus away, causing him to stumble into the dresser, as I ran after Niall- that image of Niall's heartbroken and pain stricken face fresh in my mind.
a/n:
can i push marcus off a cliff now, or?
VOTE/COMMENT/FAN
- x Delilah